that's false statement, gender you cannot choose on birth, you are either male or female decided whats between your legs. only way to actually change what gender you are is through surgeons knife and your body will forever reject that change (which is why trans gone are on permanent medication)

What's the definition of 'transphobic', actually? So we now are going to be called as 'transphobic' if we are talking about human body anatomically? What do you call people who have penis and people who have vagina when we are talking about human body in biology subject?

So anatomically, human genitals are not as easily categorised as "penis or vagina". Up until very recently, if someone was born with "ambiguous" genitals (ie they are intersex), doctors would perform unnecessary cosmetic surgeries, often without even the parents' consent or knowledge to make the baby's genitals "fit" into the reductive binary of "penis or vagina". (They even had a chart they would consult for if the clitoris/penis was above a certain length, then "boy!", below a certain length "girl!", in between those lengths, "surgery!"

But regardless of that, it is fundamentally transphobic to state that all men have penises and all women have vaginas. Even if intersex people didn't exist, which they do, the realities of gender identity mean that many men have vaginas and many women have penises. Asking about biology & anatomy classes is a distraction. This isn't a biology class. It's a webcomic about travel that made a mistake.

But, if this were a biology class, then a good teacher would say what they mean. If they want to talk about humans who have penises, they would say "humans with a penis". Same for humans with a vulva (the more accurate scientific term for what I assume everyone is calling a vagina here - the vagina is the internal passage bit, the vulva includes the vagina, labia majora and minora, clitoris, urethral opening etc). When you're actually discussing the physiology of reproduction, the parts outside the groin (and thus the gender identity of the person attached to those parts) don't matter and so are usually ignored. When you're discussing the physiology of puberty and secondary sex characteristics, given that there is variance in sex chromosomes amongst humans, it is most accurate to discuss the effects that testosterone and/or oestrogen have on the body. "Man" and "woman" are social constructs not biological ones and have nothing to do with the person's genitals.

I can't speak for the other anonymous commenters but I, personally, am anonymous because trans women like me get death threats and doxxed for speaking out on our own behalf online and given Ville's vile comment and your dismissal of my (and others') stance as being done "for the attention" instead of standing up for my own personal rights and existence, I'm feeling very correct in being anonymous. This isn't exactly a friendly environment to which I would trust my personal information or safety.

I guess I'll see if Malachi gives a shit about trans readers or not and if not, I guess I'll leave and take my money, time and energy to places where I'm wanted.

If you are looking for a way to distinguish between physical and mental, then many people use "sex" to indicate either the external genitalia, or the chromosomes. Modern usage is generally that "gender" refers to the mental part, such as "man," woman," "genderfluid," "queer," etc. As long as you accept that there are many in-between people, various intersex and chimaera and such, and you *don't* see or treat that as being a bad thing, it is not harmful to talk about both of these aspects of a person. There are some structural differences in male and female brains, and threre are some people who have a "male" brain structure and "female" genitals, or vice versa, which might be an explanation for at least some individuals being trans. However, there are some men and women, especially trans men and trans women, who do find it objectionable or even painful to mention biological/physical sex, and if you know the person you are dealing with does not wish it to be discussed, then the topic should be dropped. Likewise if someone just feels like their body parts are nobody else's business!

Also, not every trans person can afford surgery, and not everyone who can, chooses to have it done. Many these days recognize that they should be able to be themselves without having to undergo potentially dangerous surgery to be accepted. Trans people shouldn't be forced to fit into someone else's neat little boxes just so that person doesn't have to think or adapt their views to fit the reality of others' existence.

And if you didn't know already, the opposite of "trans" is "cis", meaning that someone whose sex matches their gender would be called a cis man or cis woman. Again, not everyone fits neat little categories, but they're useful terms, as long as everyone understands that they are not all-inclusive, and that it is not a bad thing to not fit into them.

Anyone else want to add anything about their own situation or that of their friends, family, acquaintances, etc?

I am not so sure Malachi said anything about ALL men and ALL women; he just attacked a stereotype with another one. I think we can all (or at least most of us) agree on that most men have penises and most women have vaginas, or most people with penises are called men or consider themselves men, etc. Creating comics becomes quickly obsolete if one has to be all inclusive. I think the point could have been that stereotypes can be harmful, especially if they are unfounded. On the other hand, many of us find some stereotypes hilarious.

They do it for the attention, and for a feeling of moral satisfaction that makes their lives feel worthfull..."I am a good person because I fight against small insutices where they don't actually exist, since the real battles are too harsh for me to fight"

It's not that I disagree with most of the "causes" people fight for, but they love to problematize things qhere it's safe and irrelevant to have those discussions.

I think complicated people are simply beginning to speak up and ask for a seat at the table, whereas before they would have been silent and assumed this was never going to happen and accepted being invisible.

Not everything is simple. And while that's not always convenient (or easy) to include trans people, I think that's a reasonable request.

I think this comic was just right. The person asked for a comic on men and women stereotypes - not transgender stereotypes - and Malachi gave the perfect "stereotyped" response :) Usually his "beans" have no specified gender, which I think is perfect and caters to all, so I am a bit disappointed that Malachi is being criticised for this comic.

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ITCHY FEET is the weekly web comic about travel, life in foreign countries, and learning new languages. Readers can expect an astonishing array of exaggerated facial expressions, humorous situations involving foreigners and foreign lands, and ordinary silliness.